Small Business Computing Staff

ITBusinessEdge: Study Shows SMBs Embracing Social Media The study, from Zoomerang, shows that many SMBs have caught on to the value of social media – but also shows that many are ignoring the potential of using their websites to attract customers. “A recent survey from Zoomerang and GrowBiz Media shows that SMB spending on social […]

Wired: Roundup – Small Business All-in-one Printers Surprise: the winner is Lexmark, a perennial fourth fiddle to HP, Canon and Epson in the printer market. In this match-up of $200-to-$300 small business multifunction printers, the $200 Lexmark product is the editor’s choice. ”Printers remain the lifeblood of the home and office, but you really want […]

PCWorld: Customer Support In The Cloud From Zoho The new product, Zoho Support, helps companies manage support tickets online and integrates with Zoho CRM, the company’s customer relationship management application. Zoho has added a customer support management application to its Web-hosted collaboration, communication, business and office productivity suite for small and medium-size businesses. Zoho Support […]

Wall Street Journal: Review – Samsung Galaxy Tab Tablet Computer The Samsung Galaxy Tab is smaller and lighter than the iPad, and less expensive on its own – though the price of a cellular contract from Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile may put the total cost of ownership above iPad’s. “After seven months of unchallenged prominence, […]

ITBusinessEdge: New SMB NAS Products From Netgear The new NAS devices use more robust enterprise-grade SATA drives and come with a five-year warranty. Capacities range from 2 to 12 TB, prices from $699 to $3,999. “Netgear last week announced the ReadyNAS Pro family of business storage products designed to make storage and backup easier for […]

Small Business Trends: How To Use Customer Reviews At Your Small Business Website Displaying customer product reviews at your website is a good way to counteract the effect of bad reviews – assuming you have more positive reviews than negative. Customers like to see them at an e-marketing site too, a new study shows. “In […]

Entrepreneur: Why Some SMBs Are Getting Anti-Social The author spotlights some small businesses that have stopped or curtailed using social media in their marketing because it was taking too much time and not generating enough new revenues. “For two days this past summer, online men’s clothing retailer Blank Label’s social media presence went dark — […]

Small Business Trends: Free Tools For Creating Small Business Banner Ads The six tools include Google Display Network but also less heralded apps such as Bannersketch and MyBannerMaker.com. “If you’ve ever needed to create a simple banner ad, you might want to try one of these six online tools. Each of these tools offers an […]

ITBusinessEdge: Pricing For MS Windows Small Business Server 2011 Announced There are three versions of the SMB server product – Essentials, Standard and Premium Add-on. Which is right for you, and how much will it cost? “Microsoft has unveiled the names and price details for its Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011. In a nutshell: […]

ComputerWeekly.com: Google Launches New SMB Apps The applications range from accounting and finance tools to apps for “idea management”, workflow management and business-related social network management. (Includes link to press release.) “Google has introduced eight new apps designed to extend its appeal to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and has promised to make Tuesdays “App […]

Entrepreneur: Website Design 101: 10 Must-Have Components The list should be self-evident – it includes things such as a clear description of the business, easy-to-find contact info and so on – but too many small business sites are missing one or more of these items. “The Web is full of horrendous sites, and we’re not […]

PCWorld: Your Network Could Be Vulnerable Inside The Firewall Top internal network security threats include USB thumb drives, any laptop or netbook, wireless access points and many other common network components. The lesson: just because you have security appliances in place doesn’t mean you’re secure. “Today’s state-of-the-art network security appliances do a great job of […]